


Quarantine

by pinkamour1588



Series: In Sickness and In Health [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Common Cold, Coughing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fever, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Gen, Illnesses, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Parenthood, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 04:52:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14036574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkamour1588/pseuds/pinkamour1588
Summary: When Joanna gets sick while Leonard is in treatment, she’s left with her grandpa who is a bit clueless.





	Quarantine

Jim glanced up from his book at Leonard blinking tiredly at him. “Hey, sleepyhead,” Jim smiled, reaching out and taking Leonard’s freezing cold hand in his warm one.

“Don’t talk about my head,” Leonard grumbled.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Like I’m in cancer treatment.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I’d say you laying down with me but I don’t think there’s enough room on the bed.” He gestured down to the thick blanket on him.

“I’ll lay in bed with you all you want when we get home.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“Good to know. Besides what we can’t do, do you need anything?”

“Can you get me more water?”

Jim smiled and nodded, letting go of Leonard’s hand and sticking a bookmark in his book before standing. He grabbed the empty cup off the bed tray and refilled it. Leonard slowly sat up enough to take it.

“Jo still wants to be with you during one of your treatments,” Jim said as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“I don’t want her seeing this. It’s bad enough she sees the aftermath at home. She doesn’t need to see the process that led to it.”

Jim let out a soft sigh and rubbed Leonard’s leg gently. “Do you need anything else?”

“No.” He put the empty cup back on the tray and settled back against the pillows.

“Do you want to watch something?”

“Sure.”

~

About halfway through the movie, Jim’s communicator rang as Joanna’s tutor called him and he stepped out into the hallway.

“Hey, Jess, Chris or Phil should be by to pick Jo up soon. Tell them to bring her by to see me. Len’s still not comfortable having her see him while he’s getting treatment, but I’d like to see her for a little bit,” Jim said answering the call.

“That’s actually what I’m calling you about. I’m not sure if she can see you.”

“What’s wrong?” Jim instantly started panicking a little.

“She just has a runny nose and a small cough. It’s probably nothing but I know you want to be cautious.”

Jim let out a sigh of relief. “See if you can get ahold of Phil and ask him then shoot me a message of the plan.”

“Will do.”

After hanging up, Jim headed back into Leonard’s hospital room.

“What was that about?” Leonard asked once Jim sat back down.

“Jo might be getting sick.”

“Oh.”

“If she is, she’ll stay at Chris and Phil’s for a while longer.”

“I feel bad though.” Leonard looked over at him.

“I do too. But the two of them can take care of her just fine.”

“I know.”

\------

That evening, Chris stared at Joanna as she coughed and sniffled.

“Can you really not come home and help me?” he whispered into his communicator.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I want to limit my exposure to illnesses as much as possible,” Phil answered from the other end.

“You’re a doctor. You work in a hospital. You’re exposed to illness every day.”

“You are aware that I spend a lot of time in my office doing administrative duties? And outside my office I’m working on the maternity floor or overseeing Leonard’s treatment?”

“Please.”

“No. I’ll help however I can over the phone, but I can’t come home until it can be determined whether she’s contagious or not.”

Chris sighed heavily.

“Now, do you have any questions I can answer from here?”

“What do I do?”

“There’s cough medicine in the medicine cabinet…” Phil walked his husband through dosage and frequency to give the medicine, what to feed Joanna, and answered every other question Chris came up with.

***

Two days later, in the afternoon, Joanna was settled under a blanket on the couch, watching Chris move about the apartment. Her sniffles had turned into congestion and a runny nose. Her coughing had gotten more frequent. And she was running a fever.

Suddenly she scrambled off the couch and ran to the bathroom. Chris flinched when he heard the sound of Joanna vomiting.

“Grandpa,” she whined from the bathroom.

Chris took a deep breath and walked away from the sandwich he was making to the bathroom. Before walking in, he took a moment to prepare himself for the vomit. “Yes?” he choked out, trying to keep his gag reflex in check.

“I don’t feel good.”

“I wouldn’t imagine you would. You just threw up.”

“I want Daddy. Or Papa.”

Chris sighed as he handed her a washcloth. “Wipe your face. I’ll go get you a trashcan. Don’t think it’d go over well if I made you stay here.” He returned a minute later, flushed the toilet, then had her follow him back out to the main room.

“Will you get Papa to come?” she asked once she was settled again on the couch.

“I can’t even get your Pops to come home.”

Joanna frowned as her eyes began to well up with tears.

“Please don’t cry. I’ll call him. Would that help?” Chris asked desperately.

She nodded, and he hurried to grab his comm, quickly dialing the number and putting it on speaker.

\------

Jim was just about to get into bed with Leonard when his comm started ringing. He considered ignoring the call until he saw it was from Chris. “Everything alright over there?” Jim asked when he picked up.

“Papa,” Joanna whimpered on the other end.

“Hey, Jojo, how’re you feeling?” He sat down on the bed, smiling over at Leonard.

“Yucky. I wanna come home.”

“Sweetheart, you can’t. Daddy could catch what you have and it’d make him really, really sick.”

“You can’t come take care of me?”

“I’m taking care of Daddy. I’m sure Grandpa is doing a good job. Or at least trying to.”

Leonard grimaced as he shifted around, gesturing Jim closer and for the blond to lay down.

“Can’t you come take care of me for a little bit then go take care of Daddy again?” Joanna asked.

Jim got settled laying on his back before Leonard moved closer, snuggling into Jim’s side and resting his head on his husband’s shoulder. “I’ll get your germs on me and could pass them on to Daddy. Jojo, I’m really, really sorry.”

Leonard looked up and whispered, “Let me talk to her.”

Jim nodded, switching to speakerphone then gesturing for Leonard to start talking.

“Hi, Jojo,” he said softly.

“Daddy!”

“You being good for Grandpa?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see if I can convince Papa to go take care of you, but I’m not promising anything, alright?”

“Bones,” Jim hissed.

“Alright, Daddy.”

“I miss you, baby girl. You’re gonna have to give me a nice long cuddle when you get home. I’m having to make do with your papa’s cuddles,” Leonard continued, ignoring Jim.

“I miss you too, Daddy.”

“And is Grandpa taking good care of you?”

“He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Jim snorted.

“But is he otherwise doing a good job?”

“I guess.”

~

The three, occasionally four, of them talked for a while until Leonard started dozing off. Jim watched him sleep, rubbing a hand over his back with Leonard groaned in his sleep.

He woke Leonard up after about two hours for dinner, which Leonard insisted upon eating at the kitchen table.

“You should go see her and help Chris out starting tomorrow,” Leonard said after swallowing his bite of soup.

“Babe, I can’t. I have to take care of you,” Jim protested.

“Call Phil. Ask if he can come over. He’s been sleeping at the hospital anyway. I’m sure he’d love to sleep in a proper bed. Even if it does have princess sheets on it.”

“You do realize that I won’t be able to come home until she’s better and she and I are given the all clear.”

“Yes, and I still want you to go.” Leonard sighed. “Jim, she needs her parents. Unfortunately, only one of them can have contact with her. I can manage. Phil will be around to help…”

“What about when he works?” Jim interjected.

“Hikaru or Ben can come over. I will be just fine. She needs you more.”

Jim sat back in his chair and stared at Leonard silently, deep in thought. After a few minutes he sighed. “Alright, I’ll ask Phil.”

\------

The next day, Jim took his time getting ready to head over to Chris and Phil’s apartment. Before he left, he wrapped his arms around Leonard, just holding him, for a few minutes while Leonard made a mug of tea.

“I love you, Leonard,” he murmured against his husband’s shoulder.

“I love you too, Jim.”

Jim kissed the side of Leonard’s head. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Leonard answered with a small laugh.

After one last kiss on the cheek, Jim headed out. When he got to the apartment and unlocked the door, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Whatever it was, Chris lying in bed with Joanna curled up against him using his arm as a pillow definitely wasn’t it. Chris looked at Jim standing in the doorway and mouthed “help me”.

“Slowly slide your arm out from under her,” Jim whispered.

Chris did so and was almost successful until Joanna shifted and blinked her eyes open. He bit back a curse as he got out of bed.

“Grandpa, where’re you going?” Joanna mumbled.

“The bathroom. And your papa’s here.”

Joanna scrambled up, smiling when she saw Jim. “Papa!” She crawled off the bed and walked over to Jim, hugging him tight.

Once she let go, he had her come with him to the couch, where she promptly got onto his lap, snuggling up against him.

“How’re you feeling, Jojo?” Jim asked, carefully working the knots out of her hair with his fingers.

“A tiny bit better. Is Daddy ok?” She looked up at him a little nervously.

“He’s feeling a little better too today. Maybe we can call him later. Sound good?”

She nodded excitedly. Once she stopped moving around so much, he kissed the top of her head.

“I missed you,” he said holding her tight.

“I missed you too. And Daddy. I miss him.”

“We’ll be home soon enough. You just need to get better.”

“I’m trying.”

“I know you are,” he laughed.

~~~

Jim didn’t notice Chris watching them every now and then throughout the day. Joanna convinced Chris to let her and Jim make a blanket fort, which the two of them laid in for a while reading. After they took it down, Joanna insisted on cuddling with Jim on the couch. Chris glanced out of his home office when he heard Joanna vomiting up her lunch.

“Aim for the bucket, Jo…Thatta girl,” Jim soothed, rubbing her back as she coughed and vomited into the trashcan.

Chris could easily make out where Joanna hadn’t made it into the trashcan and had thrown up a bit on Jim instead. When she set the trashcan down, he handed her a tissue, letting her wipe her mouth and nose.

“Sorry, Papa,” Joanna mumbled when she saw the bit of vomit on his pant leg.

“Thank you. It’s ok though. I needed to wash them anyway.” Jim wadded up a bunch of tissues and wiped what he could of the vomit off his sweatpants and into the trash. “I’m gonna go change clothes. If you feel like you’re going to throw up again, just lean over the bucket.”

She nodded as he stood and walked away.

~

Around nine o’clock that night, Jim was half sitting, half laying on the couch, leaned against the armrest with Joanna sprawled out and snuggled up on top of him as they watched a movie. Jim mindlessly rubbed her back, stealing the occasional glance down at her and smiling when he saw she was almost asleep.

“Ready for bed, Jo?” he whispered.

She nodded sleepily, letting Jim manipulate her limbs until he could pick her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around the back of his neck, resting her head on his shoulder as he carried her past Chris, who was sitting at the kitchen table reading over a message he just got on his PADD, and into the home office to the daybed. He laid her down in bed and pulled the covers over her.

“Goodnight, Jojo,” Jim said softly, kissing her forehead.

Before he could walk away, Joanna mumbled, “Papa,” and reached out to him.

“I’m right here.”

“Will you sleep here with me?”

“I don’t know if I’ll fit.”

“Oh, ok.”

“How about I stay until you fall asleep and then if you wake up in the middle of the night, you can wake me up and we can see if I can fit on here with you. Sound good?”

She nodded, and Jim sat down on the edge of the bed. He gently rubbed her back until her eyes closed and her breathing evened. Once he was sure she was asleep, he stood and slipped out of the office.

“Need a drink?” Chris asked when he saw Jim.

“I might be woken up by an eight-year-old in the middle of the night. I think it’s best that I pass,” Jim answered picking up the mess Joanna had made over the course of the day.

“You know, about five years ago I was scraping your ass off the floor of a bar,” Chris commented, sitting back in his chair.

“Thank you?” Jim looked at him confused as to what Chris’s point was.

“And now you’re married and have a child and are a parent.”

“I’m still not seeing your point.”

“You’re a damn good parent. Better than I would’ve been in your situation.”

“You didn’t do too bad.”

Chris laughed. “You turned out pretty well, I suppose.”

~~~

Around three in the morning, Jim was woken up by Joanna poking his cheek.

“What?” he mumbled incoherently.

“You said if I woke up in the middle of the night you would try to sleep on the bed with me,” she answered.

Jim sighed. He did tell her that. He dragged himself off the couch and followed her back to the room. After letting him get settled on the bed, Joana climbed in, having to almost lay on top of him with his arms around her in order for both to fit. Jim couldn’t find it in him to protest that it wasn’t necessary the most comfortable position for him when he felt her relax against him as she fell back asleep.

***

Four days later, Jim was kneeling in front of Joanna in front of their front door, situating the small surgical mask over her face.

“Why do I have to wear this?” she asked frowning behind the mask.

“Because you might still be a little germy and we don’t want Daddy getting sick.”

“What about you?”

Jim pulled out his own as he stood and put it on. As soon as he opened the front door, Joanna was running toward the master bedroom.

“Daddy! I’m all better!” She stopped next to the bed and started giggling.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” Leonard teased, patting the spot next to him on the bed.

“Your mask has moustaches on it,” she laughed as she kicked off her shoes and got onto the bed.

“Yours has lips on it.” He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head through his mask.

“Papa’s has smiley faces with their tongues sticking out.”

“And is the coolest one,” Jim said as he walked in, kicked off his shoes, and got onto the bed so Joanna was in between ween them.

“You just keep telling yourself that,” Leonard said.

“I will.”

~~~

Phil stopped in on his way home from the hospital that evening to check on the little family. He knocked but didn’t get an answer so he slowly unlocked and opened the front door then ventured in. He stopped when he caught sight of the master bedroom. Dishes were haphazardly piled on one nightstand and Joanna was snuggled up under the covers between Jim and Leonard, all three of them fast asleep. He cautiously walked into the room and took the dirty dishes to the kitchen before leaving the three of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://pinkamour1588.tumblr.com)


End file.
